The Importance of Interpersonal Skills
Content
Careers
The Importance of
Interpersonal Skills
Emotional intelligence significantly impacts
leadership success—and the bottom line.
Patricia A.
Wheeler, Ph.D.
We’ve heard it before, but it bears
repeating. Studies say 90 percent of
executive failures are attributable to
interpersonal competencies—factors
such as leading teams, developing a
positive work environment, retaining
staff, inspiring trust, and coping with
change. The message is clear—if you’re
going to excel as a leader in any industry, you must master the “soft” skills.
In healthcare management, where the
basic unit of business is the person, these
skills are even more important. If physicians on your staff are spending time
replaying a conflict in their minds, their
energy is directed away from patient
care. If you lack the skills to motivate
your frontline employees to accept and
optimally use new information technologies, your organization could be
missing revenue opportunities or negatively affecting patient outcomes. Emotional intelligence— however “soft” it
seems—has a direct effect on aspects of
the organization as concrete as patient
safety, clinical outcomes, and profitability. Following is a closer look at the five
critical interpersonal competencies.
Knowing Yourself
It sounds easy, but in fact self-knowledge is challenging for many executives. To truly know ourselves, we must
become aware of our blind spots, those
situations we don’t handle as well as
44
Healthcare Executive
JAN/FEB 2005
we should for optimal business performance. For some leaders this involves
failure to listen to others’ viewpoints,
for some it involves making tough
decisions with appropriate urgency, for
others it concerns difficulty motivating
their staff. Most people have a tendency to sweep their weaknesses under
the rug. But this inevitably backfires
because our weaknesses affect other
people, whether we’re aware of them
or not. Self-knowledge enables you to
recognize your weaker areas and take
corrective action.
Maintaining Control
Most executives believe that they
maintain control. But their staff may
think differently! The key here is to
be aware of when you are losing control. Do you pause and reflect when
you are in territory that is difficult
for you? Is your tendency to overreact
or underreact? While the occasional
outburst can be attributed to simply
being human, if your pattern is more
extreme—if you are perceived as
becoming overly upset or shutting
down—you are undermining your
leadership effectiveness.
Maintaining Motivation
Motivation is a combination of optimism and perseverance. Studies have
shown that we have a biologically based
“set point” for optimism—some of us
look at the glass as half empty, some
half full. While reality encompasses
both extremes, taking the positive viewpoint has much more leverage for leaders. Optimism cascades down to those
whom you are leading, enabling them
to stay motivated and keep reaching for
better outcomes. But when leaders are
habitually pessimistic and primarily critical, followers become less innovative
and more risk-averse. Perseverance is
the second part of the motivation equation. You must demonstrate the ability
to stay on course through thick and
thin and set a clear vision of where the
organization is headed in the long run.
Recognizing Others’ Interests
Good leaders have the ability to take
a win-lose situation and craft at best a
win-win solution or at the very least,
a tolerable outcome. To do this, you
must know the needs and perspectives
of the other parties. Only then can you
create buy-in and get people behind
your agenda, rather than attempting to
control them, which will only alienate
your followers. Remember the famous
saying “I must know where my people
are going so I can lead them.”
Communicating Flexibly
Flexible communication is the hallmark of great leaders. Leaders must
be able to adjust their communication
style according to the needs of the situation. This involves being aware of the
effect your words have on different
audiences. For example, leaders often
underestimate the power of their emotions on subordinates, communicating
with them in the same way they do
with peers. But direct reports are less
likely to push back, challenge, or even
seek clarification from their leaders.
This all too often leads to miscommunication and feelings of alienation,
which inevitably increase relational
“static” and slow business results.
Building Interpersonal Skills
Good interpersonal skills are built
over a lifetime. But there are several
steps you can take to start building
these skills faster and more effectively.
• Read. There are myriad articles and
books on communication skills
and emotional intelligence. Many
of these provide strategies for realworld situations such as resolving
conflict or motivating others. And
the simple act of reading about
emotional competencies will
increase your awareness of behavioral “best practices.”
considered. A coach will work with
you to identify the one area in which
improving your skills would have the
biggest effect on you, your team, and
your organization. The coach will
then help you identify strategies for
improvement, implement the plan,
and evaluate your progress.
Ultimately, your success in interpersonal
competencies is determined by the experience of your stakeholders. No matter
how effective a communicator you
believe yourself to be, if your physicians,
your board, and your management team
do not feel the same, you are not maximizing your leadership potential. ▲
Patricia A. Wheeler, Ph.D., is senior
partner at The Levin Group, LLC, an
Atlanta-based firm that provides consulting and coaching for senior-level
executives in companies undergoing significant change and seeking to improve
their performance.
The Levin Group, LLC
1609 S. Ponce de Leon Ave. NE
Atlanta, GA 30307-1656
(404) 377-9408
[email protected]
For information on ACHE’s Emotional
Intelligence Assessment—which allows
you to measure your emotional intelligence quotient and use the results to
build stronger relationships, enhance selfawareness, and achieve greater work/life
balance—visit the Career Services area
of ache.org or call (312) 424-9446.
• Talk with your team. Teach those
around you to give you open, honest feedback about your leadership
style. Tell them what areas you are
working on and enlist their help.
You might not always get the whole
truth, but just demonstrating that
you are trying to improve your
emotional intelligence can help
your staff improve their performance as well.
• Complete a formal evaluation. Many
executives benefit from a 360-degree
evaluation of their interpersonal
skills. These evaluations can be done
using an online tool or through a
live interview process with you and
your primary stakeholders. Other
tools such as personality type assessments can further round out your
awareness of blind spots and opportunities for development.
• Work with a coach. External feedback
can help you develop perspectives
that you might not have previously
Healthcare Executive
JAN/FEB 2005
45
The Importance of
Interpersonal Skills
Emotional intelligence significantly impacts
leadership success—and the bottom line.
Patricia A.
Wheeler, Ph.D.
We’ve heard it before, but it bears
repeating. Studies say 90 percent of
executive failures are attributable to
interpersonal competencies—factors
such as leading teams, developing a
positive work environment, retaining
staff, inspiring trust, and coping with
change. The message is clear—if you’re
going to excel as a leader in any industry, you must master the “soft” skills.
In healthcare management, where the
basic unit of business is the person, these
skills are even more important. If physicians on your staff are spending time
replaying a conflict in their minds, their
energy is directed away from patient
care. If you lack the skills to motivate
your frontline employees to accept and
optimally use new information technologies, your organization could be
missing revenue opportunities or negatively affecting patient outcomes. Emotional intelligence— however “soft” it
seems—has a direct effect on aspects of
the organization as concrete as patient
safety, clinical outcomes, and profitability. Following is a closer look at the five
critical interpersonal competencies.
Knowing Yourself
It sounds easy, but in fact self-knowledge is challenging for many executives. To truly know ourselves, we must
become aware of our blind spots, those
situations we don’t handle as well as
44
Healthcare Executive
JAN/FEB 2005
we should for optimal business performance. For some leaders this involves
failure to listen to others’ viewpoints,
for some it involves making tough
decisions with appropriate urgency, for
others it concerns difficulty motivating
their staff. Most people have a tendency to sweep their weaknesses under
the rug. But this inevitably backfires
because our weaknesses affect other
people, whether we’re aware of them
or not. Self-knowledge enables you to
recognize your weaker areas and take
corrective action.
Maintaining Control
Most executives believe that they
maintain control. But their staff may
think differently! The key here is to
be aware of when you are losing control. Do you pause and reflect when
you are in territory that is difficult
for you? Is your tendency to overreact
or underreact? While the occasional
outburst can be attributed to simply
being human, if your pattern is more
extreme—if you are perceived as
becoming overly upset or shutting
down—you are undermining your
leadership effectiveness.
Maintaining Motivation
Motivation is a combination of optimism and perseverance. Studies have
shown that we have a biologically based
“set point” for optimism—some of us
look at the glass as half empty, some
half full. While reality encompasses
both extremes, taking the positive viewpoint has much more leverage for leaders. Optimism cascades down to those
whom you are leading, enabling them
to stay motivated and keep reaching for
better outcomes. But when leaders are
habitually pessimistic and primarily critical, followers become less innovative
and more risk-averse. Perseverance is
the second part of the motivation equation. You must demonstrate the ability
to stay on course through thick and
thin and set a clear vision of where the
organization is headed in the long run.
Recognizing Others’ Interests
Good leaders have the ability to take
a win-lose situation and craft at best a
win-win solution or at the very least,
a tolerable outcome. To do this, you
must know the needs and perspectives
of the other parties. Only then can you
create buy-in and get people behind
your agenda, rather than attempting to
control them, which will only alienate
your followers. Remember the famous
saying “I must know where my people
are going so I can lead them.”
Communicating Flexibly
Flexible communication is the hallmark of great leaders. Leaders must
be able to adjust their communication
style according to the needs of the situation. This involves being aware of the
effect your words have on different
audiences. For example, leaders often
underestimate the power of their emotions on subordinates, communicating
with them in the same way they do
with peers. But direct reports are less
likely to push back, challenge, or even
seek clarification from their leaders.
This all too often leads to miscommunication and feelings of alienation,
which inevitably increase relational
“static” and slow business results.
Building Interpersonal Skills
Good interpersonal skills are built
over a lifetime. But there are several
steps you can take to start building
these skills faster and more effectively.
• Read. There are myriad articles and
books on communication skills
and emotional intelligence. Many
of these provide strategies for realworld situations such as resolving
conflict or motivating others. And
the simple act of reading about
emotional competencies will
increase your awareness of behavioral “best practices.”
considered. A coach will work with
you to identify the one area in which
improving your skills would have the
biggest effect on you, your team, and
your organization. The coach will
then help you identify strategies for
improvement, implement the plan,
and evaluate your progress.
Ultimately, your success in interpersonal
competencies is determined by the experience of your stakeholders. No matter
how effective a communicator you
believe yourself to be, if your physicians,
your board, and your management team
do not feel the same, you are not maximizing your leadership potential. ▲
Patricia A. Wheeler, Ph.D., is senior
partner at The Levin Group, LLC, an
Atlanta-based firm that provides consulting and coaching for senior-level
executives in companies undergoing significant change and seeking to improve
their performance.
The Levin Group, LLC
1609 S. Ponce de Leon Ave. NE
Atlanta, GA 30307-1656
(404) 377-9408
[email protected]
For information on ACHE’s Emotional
Intelligence Assessment—which allows
you to measure your emotional intelligence quotient and use the results to
build stronger relationships, enhance selfawareness, and achieve greater work/life
balance—visit the Career Services area
of ache.org or call (312) 424-9446.
• Talk with your team. Teach those
around you to give you open, honest feedback about your leadership
style. Tell them what areas you are
working on and enlist their help.
You might not always get the whole
truth, but just demonstrating that
you are trying to improve your
emotional intelligence can help
your staff improve their performance as well.
• Complete a formal evaluation. Many
executives benefit from a 360-degree
evaluation of their interpersonal
skills. These evaluations can be done
using an online tool or through a
live interview process with you and
your primary stakeholders. Other
tools such as personality type assessments can further round out your
awareness of blind spots and opportunities for development.
• Work with a coach. External feedback
can help you develop perspectives
that you might not have previously
Healthcare Executive
JAN/FEB 2005
45
